Sub: Supporting the demand of establishment of an Indian Institute of Management at Sambalpur city

Dear honorable Shri Sibalji,

MHRD and other central Govt. ministries have been establishing various centrally funded institutions in Odisha to make it a developed state. However, most of the centrally funded institution viz. National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and railway medical college are located in Bhubaneswar. So far, the state govt. has not established any centrally funded Institutes in the western part of Odisha.

From decades the people of western Odisha have been demanding the establishment of centrally funded institutes. But nothing is happening as Orissa govt. is continuing to be capital-centric by proposing new central governments institutes in the capital region. However, in principle, it should happen like it is happening in various developed states of India (viz. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, etc). I wish Odisha should follow the example of developed states of our country.

As reported by media Shri Amarnath Pradhan, honourable MP has raised the issue of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Lok Sabha and demanded its establishment in Sambalpur city [1]. This demand is genuine. I wholeheartedly support the demand of Shri Amarnath Pradhan, honourable MP.

Sir,

Kindly, consider the proposal for establishing an IIM at Sambalpur city; which is well connected to all districts of Orissa and all cities of India.

The Sambalpur city of western Odisha is sandwiched between Burla and Jharsuguda. Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda region is emerging as a knowledge hub and establishing such an institute will help in cross-fertilization of ideas among the scientists, economists and scholars of humanities and social sciences.

Beside that Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda area has many advantages viz.

· Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda area is well connected to most of the regions in the state and emerging as a central location for on going industrial activities in Odisha such as Sambalpur – Angul – Cuttack – Bhubaneswar belt, Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Rourkela belt, Jharsuguda – Sambalpur – Lanjigarh – Rayagada – Koraput belt, and Sambalpur – Jharsuguda – Korba – Bilaspur-Raipur belt. Apart from the existing Industries, several major industries are coming up in this region including Vedanta Aluminum in Jharsuguda. These Industries will provide an extremely good environment to the students and staffs of Indian Institute of Management for carrying out various management related consulting projects and student internships.

· Sambalpur and Rourkela city area are two major metropolitan areas of the state. Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda is more accessible for students from all the districts of western Orissa.

· The AAI is taking initiatives to establish an airport in Jharsuguda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jharsuguda_Airport). Moreover, this area is well connected to Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Nagpur, Ranchi, and Mumbai by rail.

· The Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda area has all the necessary amenities like road connectivity, hotels, malls, restaurants, bookshops and parks which will definitely attract world class faculties for this Institute.

Therefore, the central govt should establish the Indian Institute of Management at Sambalpur city of western Odisha.